After the death of David McCallum, the interpreter of the famous coroner Ducky, fans hoped for a fitting tribute. If the production understands the viewer’s desire, it will probably not be able to respond to his desire.
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Better known by the pseudonym Ducky, the famous and bizarre forensic pathologist from NCIS: Special Investigations was one of the cult characters of the detective series. After appearing in more than 450 episodes, equivalent to 20 seasons, David McCallum, who played him, died of natural causes at the age of 90. His interpreter will have endured many trials throughout his life. “Oh David. What a life, what a legend, what a journey,” said actress Pauley Perrette on Instagram, who lent her face to the brilliant Abby Sciuto between 2003 and 2017. After the actor’s death, the channels of The M6 Group have mobilized to pay tribute to him, but can we hope for a special episode that brings together a large part of the characters, as some fans want? The problem is that the original cast has already dropped out.
NCIS: Why It’s Not So Easy to Pay Homage to Ducky
As season 21 approaches on CBS in February 2024, the NCIS cast now “no longer includes any original actors,” TV Line recalls. Well, with the exception of Sean Murray (who plays McGee) and Brian Dietzen (Dr. Palmer), who didn’t become recurring characters until seasons 2 and 10, respectively. But in order to pay a nice tribute to their late colleague, the actors and actresses who actually worked with David McCallum must still be able to be there. However, this is where things get stuck, according to the American website.
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NCIS: No Ducky tribute has been filmed yet
Given these circumstances, we currently don’t know whether a “Tribute to Ducky” episode will see the light of day on our screens. Several problems arise, recalls TVLine, explaining: “You can’t just bring back Gibbs or DiNozzo.” In fact, the return of characters who have already left the series would require too many updates at the plot level. Tony (Michael Weatherly) and Ziva (Cote de Pablo) haven’t shared a line in ten years, not to mention that an appearance by Tali’s (Ziva and DiNozzo’s daughter) father would mean a family update for the less complex. As you probably understood, it will take a lot of time (and money) for this meeting project to see the light of day. We can still imagine that the series will pay tribute to the actor in one way or another.
Article written in collaboration with 6Médias